Architect Katrina Spade and her group ran a Kickstarter last year to do the research and exploration on large scale composting of human remains; I chose to support the project because I love the idea of having my body return all its goodness to the earth in such an efficient manner. With cities currently running out of burial space, and the burials that do happen more often than not doing nothing but damage to the earth in the process, it definitely makes sense from multiple angles.

In this case, if the Freakonomics team is to be believed, there was definite fraud on the part of the pet cremation companies, as no ashes would have remained from some fur and hamburger.

Just exactly what you want to have to worry about when you’re considering cremation of your loved biped, right?

Luckily, the human cremation market is much more regulated. The Everplans team explains here how the industry regulations require tracking (both durable and not) of bodies all the way through the process, and how you yourself can be sure the remains you get back are indeed your loved one.